Micro BR totally sucks as a live recorder

[powerbill]

Maybe someone can help me.  For such a cool little machine, this totally sucks as a live recorder. I have recorded about 40 minutes or so of a live show, which amounts to about 180 MB.  Because of the proprietary format, the only way to get the files is to mix it down and export to wav.  The frustration is, is that there isn't enough space to export it out. And if that isn't enough, you can't erase anything.  You can erase a portion of a song, but it actually doesn't erase it, it records silence over it.  WTF!!!  I have some priceless material here, but no way to get it off this stupid devise.  I guess trying to do it all, leaves much to be desired with this thing.

If anyone could help or give a suggestion, I would love it. My biggest question is how can I only master a portion of a song. If I start recording halfway into a song while in Mastering mode, it still starts at the beginning of the track.  Why would it do this? Is there a way around it???

[Tony W]

To start, the Micro BR does not suck as anything. That kind of comment puts you directly in the lions den, as we all dearly love our little boxes. I can understand your frustration, but this isn't a negative site. Jumping off my soap box now:

The easiest way to do this is to download the BR Wave converter software. You can convert to .wav and save it on your PC.

I'd start here if I were you.
http://www.derangedcoder.net/notes/music/software/brtowav/index.html

Once it is on the PC you can use any audio software of your choosing. Audacity seems to be the popular choice, as it is free.

[Flash Harry]

Yeah, just what Tony said, it's easy.

[powerbill]

Thanks for the quick reply and I appreciate it.  However, I use a Mac.  Do you know of any software that will do this for OS X? 

[powerbill]

Before I have to hear a tirade about being a mac user.  I found it, but thanks anyway for the help.  Also,I do love this thing. but was very frustrated after having spent hours mastering material only to read "Card Full."

[Wiley]

It doesn't matter if you are a mac user. It is all about the br and the recorders.  Tony W said it perfectly, The micro br does not suck!! It is more operator trouble. So... check out the tutorials.   I have recorded live 5 or 6 songs. And haven't had a problem.;l And I am jumping on my soapbox.  YOUR material is not any more priceless any more than the rest of ours. SO.............. chilll out and ask how to use this box.  You will gain much knowledge If you ask!!!

[Tony W]

Bill, I would highly recommend that you pick up some 1gb Sandisk memory cards. I have 3 of them that I use regularly. Be sure to get the 1gb sticks no larger.

[SdC]

.... You can erase a portion of a song, but it actually doesn't erase it, it records silence over it.  WTF!!!  ....

I'll try to disregard the swearing as we have established on the forum that occasional swearing is permitted here (https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=2892.0)

The MBR doesn't record silence over it... remember, it's actually a small computer with a flash drive. The file system works with pointers. It has a function you will someday be very very very happy with, and that is UNDO. Everything you record/delete/move is done by creating pointers to a place in the system files,  and the space you tried to create by deleting part of a track, is not actually released immediately, but kept until you record something else (always one step behind), to "remember" the deleted part incase you want to UNDO your delete. So indeed you always need extra space on the memory card to do stuff; that's the downside. And these days, well, 1GB is a bit of a low ceiling (let alone the supplied 128MB).

[Dmann]

 #1. If your gonna be serious about doing a song, only do one song on your card at a time. you can easily back up the card to your PC without using that wav recorder program.

 #2. you will not be able to do more than a few tracks on the included 128MB card. I am working on a song right now thats just under 6 minutes long and with 13 V tracks used up I am sitting at about 700MB used on the card for just that one song.

 #3. The AB function will work when mastering/bouncing. set your AB points then select auto punch. This works well if you master a song, then decide you want to redo only certain parts with different tweaks or different takes/tracks.

 #4. When mastering you do not need to export it to an mp3 or wav immediatly. just because it asks you if you want doesn't mean you have to do it. It does master it to the V tracks you tell it to though. Using the utility and then export, you can then export tracks to MP3/Wav that you've mastered. This allows you to first playback and listen to your master and also allows for letting you tweak out anything you need too after the fact.

 #5. the Wav recorder software is highy recommended if you want to get serious about mixing multi tracks. The microBR is limited as that it can only playback up to 4 tracks + the rhythm (drums) at once. Using the Wav Recorder software you can rip out all your tracks and plug them into a DAW like Reaper and do the mixing/mastering on your PC which will allow you to mix 64+ tracks at once.

 We use my MicroBR for Live recording of our jams every jam. I chose to record it dry with the onboard mic and no effects and set the sensitivity to -5, placing the MicroBR on a small table in the middle of the Jam room. When the Jam is done, I connect to my PC and use the Wav Recorder program to rip each stereo track to a Wav on my PC and then do a batch conversion to MP3 unsing Goldwav and put it on everyones USB stick so they can take it home review the nights jam whenever they want to. Takes about 10 minutes to rip and convert a 3 hour jam session of 16 or so songs. I have managed to do 4 full nights jam sessions on a 1GB card and thats using all 32 V tracks in 4 songs. If you ask me the MicroBR is athe best dam live recorder I've ever used.

[guitarron]

its a good idea to have a card reader too-they're cheap and fast at backing up files.

in perspective, the MBR is a useful tool-it has it's limitations tho
what do you really expect out of a $200 box?
What i mean is it does a lot of different functions-some real well others not so much

i use it to capture performances and ideas away from my studio- i use a DAW for producing songs (although i have done many complete songs using my br)

others here use it from start to finish-with fantastic results

honestly sometimes i only use it as as an mp3 player or guitar tuner

not many field recorders out there with a sweet guitar effects processor built in

if all you need is a field recorder and nothing else-there are better choices-but the MBR give a lot of bang for the buck-the swiss army knife for guitarists